A Seattle-based company is, for the first time, making it possible to explore the local history of small town America with the convenience of an internet search. SmallTownPapers, Inc. provides cutting-edge, digital archive technology used by major corporations, universities and the government to the country's smallest newspapers in an effort to preserve and make accessible the rich history contained in their archived editions.
SmallTownPapers works with publishers to create high-quality, searchable, online versions of newspaper archives providing quick and easy access to the unique historical information they hold. The digital imaging preserves what are often the only remaining copies of delicate or damaged newspapers, opening the door to historical information that has been virtually unavailable.
"Our archives are in bound volumes in a back room, and they're hard to get at when we have a request for a wedding announcement or someone needs to know when a relative passed away," said Lee Henschel, publisher of The Blair Press in Blair, Wisconsin, a newspaper with archives dating back to the late 1800s. "SmallTownPapers provides us with internet access to our archives - a service that, until now, was only available for medium and large daily papers."
Through the SmallTownPapers website (www.smalltownpapers.com), viewers can see an archived newspaper exactly as it was printed and can search for words or phrases appearing in articles, photographs or even advertisements. Additionally, SmallTownPapers provides participating newspapers with a web presence and global access to editions past and present.
"Because of the expense and time involved, we couldn't have dreamed of digitally preserving our archives much less afford to make them internet-accessible," said LuJane Nisse, publisher of The Latah Eagle in Moscow, ID and The Boomerang in Palouse, WA. "Our archives literally document the history of these towns and SmallTownPapers enables us to make that history available to our community and anyone outside who is interested in reading about our past."
The project is of particular interest to researchers. The president of the National Genealogical Society, Barbara Vines Little, said SmallTownPapers provides a valuable service to historians and genealogists. "Small town newspapers provide a history of a community rich with details found nowhere else," said Little.
SmallTownPapers is the brain child of Seattle entrepreneur Paul Jeffko who previously had a successful career in traditional offset printing. He learned about optical character recognition (OCR) technology and high-quality digital imaging when a client asked him to convert printed books to digital files.
"I was immediately impressed by the quality and fascinated by the technology’s possible applications," said Jeffko. "Having worked for a newspaper from a small town and seeing its invaluable archives stashed in the attic, I knew I had a perfect match. I could provide a service tailored specifically for these newspapers that have limited resources while giving readers and researchers online access to this unique portal of American history."
The company creates digital images of the newspaper archives at no cost to publishers. Today, SmallTownPapers features more than 150,000 pages of newspaper archives dating back as far as 1889 representing more than 40 small town newspapers from 14 states. SmallTownPapers is currently expanding its coverage to all fifty states.
About SmallTownPapers: SmallTownPapers is an online gateway to newspapers from small town America - past and present. Working with publishers from across the country, the company digitally scans current and archived newspapers and then provides online access. Through the SmallTownPapers website, the newspaper archives can be searched by keyword or phrase and viewed as originally printed. SmallTownPapers, Inc. is based in Seattle, WA. For more information visit www.smalltownpapers.com.
